The 16 teams competing at Saturday's N.C. Catfish Association Tournament Series contest at Lake Tillery got a rude awakening when they arrived 7 a.m. at the Swift Island ramp to find extremely muddy water.Tillery is usually one of the last Yadkin River lakes to be affected by heavy rains, but its waters have been converted to an unsightly deep brown color by recent rain and ice storms. Blue cats favor clear lake conditions.As a result, bites from big blues were scarce, though several teams managed to bring some cats of respectable size to the scales at the 3 p.m. weigh-in.Eric and Dylan Fincher, both of Mt. Pleasant, and Mike Chandler placed first with two blues weighing 39.7 pounds with the biggest fish going 29.5 pounds. They received $300.Incidentally, Doug Fincher currently holds the state record for blue catfish with an 89-pound monster taken from Badin Lake in 2006. After having the fish certified for record purposes, Fincher released the giant fish back into Badin.Norwood's Tim Caviness and Albemarle's Robert Palmer claimed the second-place prize of $100 with two blues totaling 38.7 pounds. They also had the big fish of the day, a 34.06-pound blue that paid $160 plus the two fishermen won the side pot worth $200.Chris Hammill of Kannapolis and Jeff King of Charlotte finished third with 36.00 pounds and received $80.Claremont's Omar Edwards offers a tip for anglers seeking overlooked catfish waters."The last couple of years the fishing for big channel cats weighing more than 10 pounds has been excellent at Lake Hickory," said the NCCATS president. "A couple of flatheads have been caught as well which is unusual for Hickory."The next stop for NCCATS is Feb. 23 at Mountain Island Lake out of Riverbend.Local fishermen have an opportunity to win a guaranteed first-place prize of $5,000 this Saturday at the Carolinas Bass Challenge at Lake Norman presented by the Carolina Angler's Team Trail. The big-fish award is $1,000. Tournament hours are safe light to 3 p.m.The entry fee is $200 per team plus a membership fee of $35 per person. Currently, 54 teams have prepaid to fish the event.The Tarheel Striper Club will also be fishing at Norman this Saturday. The event may provide some insight about what's left of the striper fishery at the Duke Power Co. impoundment.In recent years, the striper population at Norman has been dealt several severe blows by summer fish kills caused by excessive heat and poor oxygen levels.The striper fishing has declined to the extent that former striper guides at the lake no longer take clients out to catch stripers. Instead, the guides now focus upon spotted bass, largemouth bass, and catfish.Tarheel Striper Club member Jerry Hill of Lexington said he's not going to be able to fish the club event at Norman."I don't think I'll be missing very much," said Hill. "The stripers that are left in Norman appear to be mainly small fish. The same can be said of Badin Lake."North Wilkesboro's Tracy Adams, who qualified for his second Bass Master Classic, left this past Wednesday for Grand Lake o' the Cherokee near Tulsa, Okla., to prepare for the Feb. 22-24 world championship of bass fishing."I fished the lake in November, and I liked what I saw," said Adams, who has a strategy in mind, but he's keeping it to himself for the moment. Adams hopes the pre-Classic practice rounds will reaffirm his approach to fishing the tournament.The Powers Swain Chevy Fish Team held its first tournament Feb. 10 at Shearon Harris Lake with morning temperatures hovering around 24-25 degrees."It should have been called 'The Frost Bowl,'" said tournament director Hal Abshire of Cameron.Bobby Williams of Salisbury and Byong Lee of Stedman took first place with 11.68 pounds and the big-fish honors with a 7.27-pound bass.Abshire and Ethan Cox of West End placed second with 11.10 pounds; Craig MacDonald of Fayetteville and Eugene Maynard of Morrisville ranked third with 7.88 pounds.Tony Garitta is a fishing columnist for The Dispatch.